Cam's Song
by only here in your arms
Summary: Maya goes to the National Young Musicians Orchestra audition with an original song. She doesn't realize its inspiration (and its title) until she performs. ONE-SHOT. Spoilers for Bittersweet Symphony.


**I thought it would've been powerful if Maya went to her audition instead of going to Cam's vigil. I thought I'd write my interpretation of how it could've happened.**

**I'm still so sad about the episode and I will be for a long time. Bittersweet Symphony will never be the same now and neither will Degrassi.**

**This is a one-shot.**

******Thanks for reading.**

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Maya earned questioning looks on the city bus as she boarded with her cello. She found an empty seat and carefully placed her cello beside her, holding the precious instrument with both hands. She ignored the vibrations of her phone, undoubtedly Katie calling and texting her asking where she was. But Maya wanted to focus. This was her moment. It wasn't going to be ruined.

She replayed her song over and over in her mind. She read over her sheet music, memorizing each crescendo and decrescendo, each rest, each repeat, each quarter, whole, and sixteenth note of her song, all the way to the hotel that was holding the National Young Musicians Orchestra audition.

Maya checked in at the front desk, a lady with a smile greeting her excitedly and complimenting her on her achievement as a 14 year old. Maya responded with a small smile and a thank you, following the lady to the practice area where she immediately prepared her sheet music on the complimentary stand.

She practiced once before going to the audition room.

Three judges sat at a long black table at the furthest wall of the room. All three had welcoming expressions on their faces and gestured for Maya to prepare and take as much time as she pleased.

"Maya Matlin," a judge said as he read over her application. "Fourteen years old, a trained cellist. Fourteen. How impressive."

"Thank you sir," Maya replied with simple relief. At least they found her impressive already, she thought.

"We have two cello spots to fill for our orchestra, Ms. Matlin. We have seven cellists auditioning for us today and you are the youngest," another judge said. "I say this not to alarm you in any way. It is just for your information."

"Of course, I understand," Maya nodded. "Regardless of who I'm up against, I will perform my best."

"Good. What have you brought for your prepared piece?"

"An original composition," Maya answered. "Currently untitled but I admit to taking inspiration from the softer moments of Dvorak's New World Symphony. It's one of my favorite orchestral pieces."

"A classic," a female judge smiled. "Begin when you're ready."

Maya looked at her sheet music and began counting off a steady 4/4 beat in her mind when she spotted a tiny drawing in the corner of her sheet music. A pair of large eyes that resembled an owl's, Hoot's eyes, staring back at her as she prepared to play. Realizing she'd been tapping her foot with her bow hovering over the strings for at least 4 measures of silence, Maya cleared her throat. She opened her mouth to utter an excuse but she decided against it and just counted off again.

This time she began on cue, hitting each note perfectly and keeping time with her internal metronome. _One…two…three…four_, she said in her mind in perfect pace and her body internally tapped to the rhythm as her fingers swiftly and easily moved across the neck of her cello.

Arriving to the particularly slow part of her song, Maya went on autopilot. The notes she played were primarily on the cello's two lowest strings. She had written this part at the time Cam had broken his arm after confessing to her that he was unhappy. She felt a drop in her stomach as she continued to play, pressing her bow on the string with more force than she imagined for the part. But the sound was astounding and it drove her further into the song, using her emotions to propel her into a performance she'd never done before.

Near the end of her song, the light, happy ending, Maya played the high notes lightly. The sounds of the notes with the perfect tone and her perfect vibrato from her fingers propelled her into the most perfect moments with Cam. Their happiest times. The lightest times.

At her final note, a note which took over a measure and a half and stopped with softness, Maya realized one thing. She had written this song for Cam. About Cam.

This was Cam's song.

Tears were about to swell in her eyes when she heard clapping from across the room from the judges. Looking at the content look on her faces, Maya suppressed her tears and managed a small, genuine smile.

"That was beautiful Maya," one of them said. "So much emotion, a beautiful original piece. You must have been inspired."

"I was," Maya admitted with honesty. "Very inspired."

.

At home, after a speech from Katie and hugs from her parents, Maya sat on her bed with Hoot in her lap and her sheet music in the other. The judges said they would call in the next few days to tell her if she was in the orchestra but they also said that it could be very promising.

But Maya continued to stare at her sheet music. She had gotten it computer generated, the notes and rests perfectly placed on the staff, with her name in the right hand corner beside "Composed by:." There was a gap at the top, though, where a title should've been placed. But Maya hadn't thought of a fitting title.

Until now.

With a pen, Maya neatly wrote at the top of her music.

_Cam's Song._

After she finished, she went to her file cabinet of music sheets and placed _Cam's Song_ in a folder deep in the back of the cabinet, where she kept songs that she no longer played.


End file.
